21b. The Passage Through Darkness
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Rosella took tiny measure steps, too afraid to move outside the small magical globe of Jenna’s aura. She
listened nervously as tiny pebbles crunched under her awkward black heels. Every sound seemed
amplified in the vast darkness of the cave. She thought at any moment the vicious troll would come
lumbering through the dark and carry her off to a horrid fate. Rosella shook her long blonde braids, trying
to rid her head of such unhelpful thoughts. The imagination was a terrible thing, especially at a time and
place that she now found herself.
Gaining control over her wandering mind, Rosella focused on something that seemed more important right
now, and that was the location of the chasm. She new it was close by from her previous journey through the
cave, and it had the tendency to sneak up on her, and it was a long way down. That was a fate she did not
want to meet! Clutching the splintery board as tightly as she dared, she shuffled her small feet carefully,
testing each step with a jumping heart.
Before long, Rosella felt a tug on her skirt from Jenna, a signal that they had come upon the chasm.
Kneeling down carefully, Rosella lay the board across. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to cross. With
the aid of Jenna’s light, the young princess took measured steps, gasping as she felt the board groan even
under her waif like weight. It was when she reached the middle that sour luck came their way. The girls
thought they heard the growl of the troll, and Jenna in her panic, fluttered chaotically down into the chasm to
hide her light, but the strobe disoriented Rosella’s direction sense, and left her in complete darkness.
Nearly losing her balance in her awkward heels, the princess now found herself in a dilemma. Should she
wait until Jenna returned from down in the chasm to or try to navigate herself blindly to safety so as not to
test the resilience of the decaying board?